We sit comfortably in our living rooms surfing
the net enjoying the holiday season, looking
forward
to New Years celebrations. In North America the custom is to wish each other
a happy new year. In some Latin American Countries the wish to another is
for a prosperous one. Yet, there are many people throughout the world
whose only wish is to have food and shelter for their families, and
merely be alive during
the
coming year. Such is the case for the survivors of Hurricane Mitch; a storm
which has devastated Honduras and it's several neighboring countries in Central
American. In it's wake, over 10,000 persons were killed, with thousands
more missing. When all is said and done, millions of people in the region
will have been affected by this natural disaster. The capital city of Honduras,
Tegucigalpa is covered in a blanket of mud.

Numerous organizations are coming to the aid of the survivors. The worldwide
governing
body
for soccer for instance; the Federation Internationale de Football
(FIFA) is considering methods of providing aid to the region.
(See Story). Recently there
were soccer tournaments
conducted
in California, and Washington DC, USA featuring superstars from Central American
national teams and clubs. The goal this time however is merely to help rather
than win. Remaining constistant with that theme, and having an
international audience, we felt a responsibility, no an obligation as to
assist to whatever extent we could. For that reason we have included
in this edition, an exclusive interview conducted with Ann Stingle who is
the International Spokesperson for the American Red Cross. Ms. Stingle
tells us how international relief organizations such as the American Red
Cross are dealing with the crisis, as well as how we as individuals can assist
in the relief effort.

LA CANCHA: What is the magnitude of the Hurricane
Mitch in Central America or rather what are the areas which are most critically
affected area?STINGLE: Although Hurricane
Mitch has spread across Central America, the most critically affected countries
are Honduras and Nicaragua as well as El Salvador, Guatemala and
to some extent Coast Rica and Belize. All of those countries have been
affected by the Hurricane. Every has seen the pictures which show the storm
to have been deadly and devastating particularly in Honduras and Nicaragua.
With thousands dead, I don't think we'll ever the exact number of people
who died. THey were simply very swiftly buried alive in mud in many cases
or swept away in swollen rivers. Although there are thousands who have lost
their lives. there are many more thousands have been left homes and whose
lives have been ruined by the storm.

LA CANCHA: What will be th specific function
of the Red Cross in this particular disaster relief effort?STINGLE: Well, the Red Cross in Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua and El Salvador all have Red Cross organizations. They will
at first participate in evacuation and rescue and they are helping to support
local shelters in terms of food, blankets and volunteers. They will provide
first aid emergency and medical assistance. The Red Cross around the world
is pitching in to help in this situation. Each chapter are organizing
their relief efforts to ultimately be a part of the overall international
Red Cross response and certainly the American Red Cross is a part of
that.

LA CANCHA: Our magazine has an international audience consisting of
futbol/soccer fans. Many of those persons reading this article will want
to know what it is they can do. What would be your advise to those
individuals who want to assist in this relief effort?
STINGLE: Well the best thing they should do is make a donation to their local
Red Cross or Red Crescent organization. There are 175 countries with Red
Cross and Red Crescent national societies including the Magendavidadom in
Israel. So I'd say to make a financial donation to your Red Cross locally.
For the American Red Cross people can telephone1-800-HELP-NOW. The
donation can be made by credit card or a check could be sent to the
AMERICAN RED CROSSP.O.
Box 37243 Washington D.C. 20013.

LA CANCHA: What percentage of the funds donated will be going towards
the relief effort?
STINGLE: All of it will go, for the American Red Cross.

LA CANCHA: How long have you been involved with the American Red
Cross?
STINGLE: I've been with the American Red Cross for over twenty years, and
I've been in situations in Somalia, Ruwanda, the Gulf War and various other
crisis situations

LA CANCHA: How does this situation compare to the other crisis in terms
of difficulty in providing assisting to the victims?
STINGLE: I don't like to compare tragedies however each disaster is unique
and this one is among the worst.

LA CANCHA: Do you think that reaching people through this type of media,
specifically a internet based soccer magazine will be of some
assistance?
STINGLE: Yes I do, I think this is a fantastic idea, particularly with the
internet becoming an ever increasing means of people staying in touch. It's
people -to- people communication and I think it's excellent. This is
first time Iv'e seen a combination sports, the internet, and a relef effort
linked in this manner. I think it is very unique.

LA CANCHA: Is there anything else that you would like to tell our
readership?
STINGLE: Well again, the people of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador
will certainly need all the help they're going to get if they are ever
going to rebuild their lives and certainly the Red Cross will be greatly
appreciative of any support provided.

LA CANCHA; Are you asking for clothing or food at this time?
STINGLE: No, because that tends to create a disaster within a disaster because
it blocks the pipeline. It's better to give a financial donation so
that the most appropriate and critical items can be purchased and gotten
into the region quickly and efficiently.

LA CANCHA: What are those items?
STINGLE: Water purification, antibiotics, bulk food that is easily distributed.
It's important for
us
to be able to provide things that can be easily distributed that won't take
alot of manpower from the relief effort in order to sort, clean, or divide
into groups to send it out. What you have is an infrastructure that is already
damaged or closed to destroyed. In that fragile type of situation you don't
want to make it worse by sending things that will block the distribution
channel. so you don't want to make things worse.

LA CANCHA: So basically you're saying is that many things that should
be bought, will be bought in the area, and distribution channels are already
set up to deliver the items which will be bought.
STINGLE: Exactly. The closer you buy to the point of need the greater
is the chance of purchasing appropriate items; items which will fit culturally.
You will also save on shipping costs

.Webmaster's
note: La Cancha encourages webmasters to place a link on their
site leading to this article entitled: "La Cancha de
Lagrimas"(Spanish)or "Field of Tears" (English) at
http://www.lacancha.com/Honduras.htm. By simply doing this you
will have assisted tremendously in this relief effort. In turn, we
will reciprocate by placing a link to your site in our special links section
below.

La Cancha would thank Ann Stingle, International Spokesperson for the American
Red Cross for consenting to the above interview. We would also like to thank
the American Red Cross and it's webmaster at Disasterrelief.org for granting
permission to utilize it's photos in connection with this article.